{"id":46969,"date":"2017-08-17T19:56:57","date_gmt":"2017-08-17T19:56:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2017\/08\/17\/mattis-we-will-move-this-toward-a-decision-on-afghanistan\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:54:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:54:18","slug":"mattis-we-will-move-this-toward-a-decision-on-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2017\/08\/17\/mattis-we-will-move-this-toward-a-decision-on-afghanistan\/","title":{"rendered":"Mattis on Afghanistan strategy: \u2018We will move this toward a decision\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2013 President Donald Trump and his national security team will meet at Camp David Friday to try to finalize the way ahead for U.S. troops in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe will move this toward a decision,\u201d Mattis said at a press conference Thursday in Washington with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and their Japanese ministerial counterparts at the State Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">National security adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, Tillerson and Mattis have been trying for months to shape a future strategy for Afghanistan that meets Trump\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/07\/31\/trump-considers-withdrawal-from-afghanistan\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"214\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/636044507444662853-2727062jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Trump considers withdrawal from Afghanistan<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Pentagon is finding proposed troop increases for Afghanistan to be a much harder sell than expected for President Donald Trump<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Friday\u2019s discussion is likely to include very specific details for a wide range of options, including the possibility that U.S. forces could withdraw completely. Conversely, Mattis and the team are also finalizing a strategy that could order an estimated 4,000 more troops to Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The options still included as late as Monday the possibility that the U.S. may consider outsourcing some of the military portion to private contractors, a move opposed by the Afghan government.<\/p>\n\n\n<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link smg-interstitial-link--fallback wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\"><a href=\"\/\/Erik%20Prince\u2019s%20private%20air%20force%20in%20Afghanistan%20faces%20many%20legal%20hurdles\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__fallback-link\">http:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/06\/erik-princes-private-air-force-in-afghanistan-faces-many-legal-hurdles\/<\/a><\/aside>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The additional U.S. troops would be part of an overall plan to help the Afghan army repel Taliban attacks in Helmand province and to rout cells of Islamic State fighters that have taken hold in Nangarhar province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are approximately 8,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, 3,000 more than were originally planned to remain in 2017. Former President Barack Obama decided in July 2016 to keep the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan at a higher level due to increase in Taliban attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since then, Afghanistan\u2019s security has further deteriorated and U.S. forces have expanded their offensive operations against the Taliban and ISIS.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2017\/08\/16\/us-service-member-killed-fighting-isis-in-afghanistan\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/folded-flag.jpg_8061fb.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Utah guardsman killed fighting ISIS in Afghanistan<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">A soldier from the Utah National Guard was killed and 11 others injured Wednesday during an operation against Islamic State forces in eastern Afghanistan, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert confirmed.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A member of the Utah National Guard was killed Wednesday in Nangarhar when his unit was clearing a building that was wired to explode. The unit was conducting partnered operations with Afghanistan forces against ISIS-Khorasan. The death marked the 10 combat death in Afghanistan this year and 11th overall, equal to all the losses in 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The administration has not settled on an Afghanistan strategy, which could deploy as many as 4,000 additional U.S. forces to fight the Taliban and ISIS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":89869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,36,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3493],"class_list":["post-46969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters","category-pentagon"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"O4WRPEYFKJCQJGKUYKZDKH2F3Q","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2017\/08\/17\/mattis-we-will-move-this-toward-a-decision-on-afghanistan\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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